Point of Differentiation
by analine
Summary: Yuuta just thought he'd try something different, for once. Yuuta, Yuuki. Tag/coda for episode 7.


**Title:** Point of Differentiation  
><strong>Author: <strong>analine  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Yuuta, Yuuki  
><strong>WarningsSpoilers:** spoilers for episode 7  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> ~1,100  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Yuuta just thought he'd try something different, for once.

**Notes**: Well, what can I say? My love for this series, and the twins especially just seems to keep growing the more I see, so I finally broke down and wrote something. ^_~ It's a bit of a tag/coda for episode 7, because I really wanted to see Yuuta apologizing to Yuuki for keeping secrets. Or, you know, something along those lines. ^_~ Anyway, thanks for reading - any comments/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. ^_^

* * *

><p>From his perch on the couch, Yuuta glances at the back of his brother's head over the pages of an A-4 size wire-bound notebook.<p>

A neatly printed list of English words stares up at him from the lined pages. He's supposed to be memorizing vocabulary (there's a quiz tomorrow) but instead, he's not really doing anything other than spacing out to the sound of gunfire from Yuuki's game. Yuuki sits cross-legged on the floor at the base of the couch, engrossed, his eyes darting back and forth across the screen.

Yuuta's notebook, the one he's supposed to be using to study, has strawberries on the cover. They line the edges in a neat border and in the center, there's a larger cluster, some bright red, some pink, verging dangerously close to too-flashy for his taste. He doesn't even particularly like strawberries, but it had been a bit of a joke, something Yuuki had picked up one day from the 100-yen store before the start of the school year.

He's only using it now because he'd run out of paper in his regular notebook the other day.

Yuuta watches his brother's brow furrow in concentration as the sight of his gun travels over the TV screen, perpetually in search of zombies, who leer and stumble out at him from behind endless hidden doorways and blind corners. It's something Yuuta really likes about his brother, this ability to _engage_. Even if all he's engaging with is, well, zombies. It's still a point of differentiation, so to speak. For this, Yuuki can always be counted on.

He glances at the row of words on the page in front of him again, idly. _Acorn, leaf, turkey, squirrel_ - the theme this week, appropriately, is autumn. He takes a sip of his drink from the tall glass next to his feet. Soon it will be too cold for barley tea. The ice cubes in the glass clink together, jostled from their comfortable position by the motion, but the sound is drowned out by the television.

Yuuta clears his throat, and is just about to say something about this whole Takahashi-san thing—he's not stupid, after all, he knows he has to say _something_, eventually_-_when Yuuki, eyes still on the screen, sighs loudly.

"You're the worst, you know," his brother announces, and several zombies crumple to the bottom of the screen.

Yuuta shifts his attention, staring down at his brother. He grips the notebook too tightly without realizing it, and the left corner creases under his fingertips.

"Takahashi-san," Yuuki continues, as blood splatters over the screen, a bright red-brown stain that grows until it obscures everything else.

Yuuta sighs. He sets the notebook on the floor next to his drink and stares at the bold black lettering of his name in the corner, ringed by tiny strawberries, aware of the fact that Yuuki has set down the controller and is staring at him. It's the kind of stare that would make any normal person squirm in their skin, their face darkening several shades. Yuuta shrugs it off easily, and then meets his brother's eyes.

"I know I should have told you guys."

"You should have told _me_, at least."

There's silence for several beats. Yuuta stares at Yuuki's score along the bottom of the paused screen. It's impressive, as usual.

"You would have made fun of me," Yuuta offers, but suddenly he's frustrated. At himself, at the fact that he had tried to keep this a secret, at the fact that Yuuki had noticed anyway, at the fact that maybe he'd _wanted_ him to notice anyway.

It's all so stupid. If he wants to have a girlfriend, he's allowed to have one. He doesn't owe anyone an explanation, not even Yuuki. Except… Well… That isn't really the point, after all.

"So what," Yuuki says, and he's abandoned the controller (never a good sign) and is staring at Yuuta over his knees. "Since when do you care if I make fun of you? That's a stupid excuse."

"Okay, fine, that wasn't really why. I wanted…"

Yuuki turns to face him, his eyes wide with curiosity. It's incredibly unnerving.

"I wanted to try something different," he says finally, his voice deliberately steady, firm.

Yuuki stares at him for a long moment. Then his eyes narrow. "Ah. _Sou_."

He picks up the controller and fixes his attention on the screen again.

"Yuuki-"

"Shh," Yuuki says, his voice flat. "I'm about to level up here."

Yuuta picks up his notebook and fiddles with the edges for a moment, not caring that they'll never flatten out again at this rate.

He _does_ like strawberries, is the thing. He'd just never told anyone other than Yuuki, because it seemed girly. Yuuta has never had any real reason to keep anything from Yuuki, after all.

"Sorry," he says quietly. He flips the cover of the notebook open, and then closes it again absently. "I was wrong. It's just that everyone else has something that sets them apart… I thought, maybe…"

Yuuki's fingers tap and punch at the controller.

"And you'd use Takahashi-san for that?" he says, frowning at the screen – Yuuta can just barely see the corners of his lips curving downward. "How cruel."

"I didn't mean—"

"Yuuta is Yuuta," Yuuki says, setting the controller down at his feet, and turning to face Yuuta again, his eyes flashing. "That's all."

Yuuta narrows his eyes. "Right."

Yuuki sighs, and then leans forward, up onto his knees to touch his index finger to Yuuta's forehead. It's a forceful tap, and Yuuta knows what it means; he takes notice.

"All you have to do is keep on being Yuuta." His brother's face is serious, and his eyes are dark, as if he's angry, but Yuuta is sure that's not really it.

After a moment, Yuuki turns back to his game.

"I won't forgive you otherwise," he says quietly, as he picks up the controller.

Yuuta settles back on the couch, and everything feels lighter – the air in the room, the notebook in his hands, and his chest, especially. As he turns his attention back to his notes, he barely catches Yuuki's gaze, watching him out of the corner of his eye as on the screen, several zombies meet their demise, caught in the line of his fire.

**end**


End file.
